Jungle Fever
by N.U.T.S
Summary: *COMPLETE*Want something diff? Try this. AU. What if Arnold had gone w/his parents instead of being left with his grandparents? Helga never became a bully or met arnold...until now. Arnold, jungle boy, meets a very meek Helga. Sparks fly? u know it.
1. Home Inside the Birdcage

A/n: I spent six hours a few nights ago trying to find a good Hey Arnold! Story and you know what I found. A whole bunch of stories that have the same plot.oh sure, there where a few that weren't but that was like five stories in fourteen pages!!!!  
  
SO, I decided to write a fic that I hope is a little different from everyone else's.  
  
Disclaimer: I do not, in no legal. er ANY, way, own Hey Arnold! So bleh! *blows a raspberry*  
  
REMEMBER this is an AU fic  
  
~ Jungle Fever ~  
  
~ Chapter One: Home Inside the Birdcage ~  
  
Arnold trailed one tan hand through his cornflower hair and looked around at the scraggle (my own word :D means array.a big mess ;) ] of boxes surrounding him like a legion of un-trained ninjas. He sighed and ascended down the attic stairs from his room to the floor below.  
  
Arnold Patrick Melbony (Arnold is fine) was in the middle of moving into his grandparents boarding home. His parents had finally decided that the jungle was no place for a proper education, and had sent him here to finish high school while they took their second honeymoon at the site of Stella's, Arnold's mother, expedition where they had meet.  
  
He finally made it to the bottom floor where his grandfather sat drinkng a cup of juice and reading the newpaper. He looked up at Arnold and smiled.  
  
"Hey there Short Man! How are you this fiiiiine morning?" he pracitcally sang out. Phil (Grandpa) was apparntly in a very good mood this day.  
  
"I'm fine Gramps. You?"  
  
"I'm g-" he suddenly stopped talking and looked quizzickly at his drink. "What in the -? POOKIE!"  
  
"Yes King Philus?" Gertie (Grandma) asked from where she standing by the stove. She turned to Phil, adjusting her toga, as she smiled at him.  
  
"Pookie! What kind of juice is this?"  
  
"Well you see, the Royal Orchard was fresh out of any fruits, so I went to the Royal Garden and picked some rasber-"  
  
"RASBERRY JUICE!" Phil yelped. He turned to Arnold with a panicked expression. "Remember Arnold, NEVER EAT RASBERRIES!!!!" Phil sprinted from the kitchen to the W/C (bathroom) while Gertie smiled a little crazilly.  
  
"Poor King Philus. Nobody told him that the Toilatres are broken." At that moment Arnold decided to ignore the plunger and hammer sitting in the corner. (a/n: I have one warped sense o humor don't I?) He tried to slip past Gertie to grap an apple from the fridge but she spotted him right away.  
  
"Ah! Prince Arnoldi!!! Your presence is required immediately in the dining hall. Your grandfather, King Philus, claims that you have been avoiding meals, so sit down while I feed you a feast fit for, well, A PRINCE!"  
  
Arnold caved in and sat at the table, not quite knowing what to expect his grandmother to feed him, and looked at the clock trying to calculate how much longer he had till he had to register at the local high school.  
  
~*~*~*~*~ In another part of town ~*~*~*~*~  
  
Helga G. Pataki, was not an ugly girl. She was not a crude girl. She didn't have bad manners. She didn't have bad hygiene. She didn't get bad grades, or get in trouble during school. But Helga was the school outcast.  
  
Oh sure, she was best friends with the most popular girl in school, but that both agreed it would be batter for the other girls reputation if that said that their friendship was a charity case from the other girl to Helga.  
  
She pouted infront of her mirror, doing her best to make her hair NOT look like rat in traction, while she glanced at the clock.  
  
She only had a few minutes before she had to get to school and fill in for Mrs. Octavia and register the new students. Helga Pataki was ABSOLUTELY.  
  
.terrified.  
  
So many people, and she actually had to talk to them without even knowing them, and then help them fill out their forms and help them get their schedule.  
  
It would be pure hell.  
  
Why, oh WHY, had she signed up as office aid?  
  
Because she had to prove that she was just as good, if not better, than her sister Olga P. Pataki.  
  
Helga finally succeded in making her hair look nothing like a mutilated rodent and slipped a pink headband over her dull blonde hair. She pushed up her large oval glasses and glanced once again at the clock.  
  
She better get going.. She walked to the door, and slipped into her red flats (almost heel-less shoes incase u didn't know) and slipped her pink windbreaker over her blood red sweater and flamingo-pink skirt.  
  
"Goodbye Bob," she called to her father  
  
"Huh?" a mutter came from the living room. "Oh,. yeah,. bye Olga." Helga didn't bother to correct him.  
  
"Goodbye Miriam," she called to her mother. Some mumblings followed by loud snoring emmited from the kitchen. Helga sighed, forlornly, and exited the building that was her house.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
A/N: that's it for chappie one sorry. But wait on your seats for Chapter Two: Straight Outta the Amazon 


	2. Straight Outta the Amazon

Thanks to: Your scapegoat (I know you don't like Hey Arnold so thanks so much for reviewing Sara), wyldheart (isn't this screen name the greatest? I blame the movie Truly Madly Deeply for it. any way, glad you like the story so far here's chapter two for ya), Me Myself and I (ta da! I updated! Aren't I special? :p)  
  
Btw, I realized belatedly that I made Helga dress rather COLDY for the beginning of August . so lets just say she gets cold REALLY easy, OK? (winter must be hell.) or maybe it's global freezing? Jk! There is no such thing as Global Freezing (thank god! Brrrrr) only Global Warming! (yes! Score! Warmmmmmmmmmmm)  
  
REMEMBER this is an AU fic  
  
~ Jungle Fever ~  
  
~ Chapter Two: Straight Outta the Amazon ~  
  
Helga nodded at the girl as she told her to send in the next person. She gave a heavy sigh, and rubbed her temples as she sagged back into the chair. Trying to not act like the social outcast that she was, was giving her the Headache From Hell. She stopped and sat straighter when she heard the door reopening for the next person, and regained her composure before the person was fully in the room. When the person, a boy to be precise, entered the room, Helga was struck shell-shocked.  
  
Standing before her was the sexyest man she had ever set eyes upon. He stood at the regal height of 5'9" landing at a bare minimum of only two inches shorter than her. A slightly oblong (a/n: hell football shaped ;p) head sported shiny cornflower hair and also laid claim to the greenest eyes she had ever seen.  
  
They were practically fern green when he walked in but as he looked back at her they seemed to darken to a deep sea green, almost black. A button nose was nestled above a trim mustache that guarded soft thin lips.  
  
The teenagers body was not buff, but lanky like a starving musician's. His body was currently coated in a lose green t-shirt and baggy jeans that covered all but the tip of his weather-worn sneakers. All of this covered the boy's well-tanned body, looking like some jungle diety that had emerged straight outta the amazon.  
  
He looked at her and smiled as he sat down. "So, shall we begin?" he asked.  
  
Helga nearly died on the spot. Two blows in one shot. Not only had he thrown her the most apetizing smile she had ever seen in her sixteen years of life, but then he goes and uses his rough purr of a voice.  
  
Helga was in  
  
deep  
  
trouble.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Arnold had seen at least ten people walk in before him, before he was finally sent in to fill out the nesscesary forms so he could attend the school. He smiled a slight thanks at the short black girl that had told him to go in, and opened the door.  
  
He went in, expecting an old woman with greying hair and a scowl to challenge the Scrooge, and stopped short when he saw the young girl in the seat behind the desk.  
  
He controlled the urge to let his jaw drop at the mousy girl before him. He couldn't tell much of her figure by the baggy clothes that convered them, but she had a tiny skinny neck so he could tell that she was anything but chubby.  
  
And speaking of her neck, he had never seen anything that looked so soft and milky white. He raised his eyes from that gorgeous neck to be stopped again when he saw the deep sapphire eyes that stared back at him. Blonde hair framed the heart shaped face that sat before him.  
  
After recovering he gave her a smile and then sat in the chair before her saying, "So, shall we begin?"  
  
The woman took a deep breath, she was probobly really bored with all this 'new student' work he told himself, and nodded at him. What happened next blew him out of the water.  
  
She spoke.  
  
And the whispery meek sound in her voice made all the hairs on the back of his neck rise while he shivered, hopfully not visabally, and resisted the urge to leap across the table and ravish her.  
  
Arnold was in  
  
deep  
  
trouble. (a/n: hee hee, they're so alike and they just don't know it ;p)  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
After about half an hour of very little talking Arnold's 'interview' was finally over. With deep regret he stood to leave. "Well since we're all done here I guess I better be going."  
  
The girl, he still hadn't learned her name, looked back up at him from the stack of filled forms and nodded blankly. "Huh? Oh! Oh yes, by the way," she said as if remembering something. "Someone will be at your house sometime this Saturday around noon to show you around town and then the school. So please leave your schedule free for that. Unless you absolutely don't want to; then I can tell Mrs. Octavia."  
  
He hadn't ever heard her say so much at one. That sultry voice was damn irritaiting when he couldn't initiate anything. What had she said? A tour guide? He hoped it was her.  
  
"I'll be sure to do that," he responded. "Leave my schedule free that is, not have you tell Mrs. Octavia." He smiled goofily.  
  
"OK then Mr. Melbony."  
  
"Please, call me Arnold."  
  
"Yes then Mr. M- I mean, Arnold." Oh goddess! She had spoken his name. He wish whatever gods where out there would stop toying with him.  
  
"And what, pray tell, might I call you? Besides a vision of lovelyness of course." stupidstupidstupidstupidstupid. Had he REALLY just said that? Oh god he was so stupid.  
  
The girl blushed a deep scarlet, and muttered, "Helga is fine."  
  
Helga? He had always like that name. His best friend in the jungle had been named Helga.  
  
"Lovely name." He wondered what her last name was but since she hadn't supplied it in the initial introduction he wouldn't press.  
  
"Well goodbye Helga. I guess I'll see you when school starts?" Helga nodded yes and then went back to shuffiling papers. He left the office, her golden hair and cerulean eyes still burned into his memory.  
  
He had very good dreams that night.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
A/N: that's it for chappie two. Stay tuned for Chapter Three: Pure Animal Desire (which sounds way more *graphic* than it is) 


	3. Touring Through the Jungle

Thanks to: Zarius, MoonLight (Ah, holy cheese crackers! The were blue? Well I think I gotta go fix that now .), Steve, Chudney (Don't worry about understanding AU, it took my many weeks of fanfic reading before I figured it out. It means Alternate Universe), ana, Silver Kitten, BJ, BrianaLFBH, Angel St. Mathew,  
  
I've never gotten so many reviews in my life, well for an incomplete story. I got about the same amount for my ten chapter one! And then I've only gotten like five for all my others  
  
hey, if you wanna waste your time, read my other Hey Arnold! fanfics: Forgive me Love, and it's sequel: Simple Evidence  
  
Oh my god, something must be really wrong with me!!! I have never in my life updated a fanfic this fast/frequently. *goes to psychiatrist*  
  
REMEMBER this is an AU fic  
  
~ Jungle Fever ~  
  
~ Chapter Three: Touring Through the Jungle ~ (name was changed)  
  
This was a day to go down in the history books for the small town of Hillwood.  
  
It was really quite a day to remember.  
  
Helga Pataki  
  
was  
  
.  
  
.  
  
.  
  
smiling!?  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Pheobe is the embodiment of all that is sweet and delicate and sexy. Cascades of raven shaded hair lay tossled about, caressing the petite asians delicately pale neck. Eyes with their true color disoriented with purple contacts were dancing gleefully as she listened to her best friend describe the "god" that she supposdly just witnessed.  
  
She smiled ruby red lips and spoke into her see-through phone, "Helga. Calm down."  
  
"Sorry Pheebs," helga delicate voice crackled through the used phone, "but he was just so PERFECT. And guess what?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"I got Mrs. Octavia to let ME give him the tour Saturday!" Helga squealed and made other such noises of excitement. Pheobe pinched herself to make sure she wasn't dreaming, and made a mental note to check the library for proof about alternate universes.  
  
"Olga! Be quiet up there! I'm trying to watch the game!" Pheobe heard faintly in the backround. Normally if helga heard her dad call her olga she would become all sad and depressed, but Helga wasn't even phased at all. She continued to make quieter cheering noises to Pheobe over the phone.  
  
"Helga, BREATHE! Yeesh, I haven't seen you this excited since the day Brainy asked you out! And y'all broke up two years ago!!!"  
  
"You'll understand when you meet him Pheebs. Then you'll understand."  
  
"I hope so," Pheobe said. She wanted to meet the man who had appeared into Helga's life and gave a glimpse of what Helga would have been like with a normal childhood.  
  
She owed her soul to this man for doing what she had been trying to do for years.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Arnold had FINALLY finished unpacking all of his things and was now organizing the books on his shelves. Faintly he heard ringing in the backround followed by his grandfather's grabled voice.  
  
"Hey short man! Phone for you!" Phil shouted through the ceiling towards Arnold. Arnold popped open his door and opened the stairs that led from the attic from to the rest of this house. With a hop, skip, and a jump (literally!), Arnold reached the phone.  
  
"Hello?"  
  
"Hello. Is this Arnold Melbony?" came a sour voice from over the phone.  
  
"Yes this is."  
  
"Hi my name is Georgia Octavia and I am calling to confirm that you are free Saturday for the tour."  
  
"Yes ma'am I'm free then."  
  
"Very good. Ms. Pataki will come pick you up at noon sharp!"  
  
"Thank you ma'am."  
  
"Yes. Good day," the lady said, hanging up before he could say good bye. Hmmmmm, Arnold thought, I wonder who this "Ms. Pataki" person is.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Helga was very, very, VERY nervous. She looked at the old red boarding house noting the sign "No kids. Pets ok". No kids? Then why did Arnold live here? Verrrrrry curious. Anyway, back to being nervous. Helga looked at the door, contemplating ringing the doorbell and running with her tail between her legs. Finally she knocked on the old door. Mere seconds later Arnold himself opened the door. Helga resisted sighing deeply.  
  
"Hello Mr. Me- I mean Arnold. I'm sorry I'm late." Arnold stared at her and then burst out laughing. Helga's face flushed a deep scarlet. Had she said something funny? Did she have something between her teeth? What was so funny?? And that deep throaty laugh of his was damn distracting.  
  
"What? What did I do?" Helga asked, the near-panic filtered from her voice.  
  
"Nothing at all. Mrs. Octavia said you would be here at noon exactly, and you were, and your apologizing for being late," he explained with a quizzical look in is eye at her near melt down.  
  
"Oh," she spoke softly.  
  
"So your last name's Pataki, eh?"  
  
"Yes." Under her breath she added, "unfortunatly."  
  
"What was that last part?"  
  
"Nothing! Nothing at all! Let's get on our was Arnold. Got quite a bit to go." Helga ushered, stepping off his porch and beginning to walk down the sidewalk.  
  
"Hey!" Arnold shouted, laughing. "Wait up," he called catching up to her.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Well I must say this town is quite, quaint!" Arnold remarked jokingly.  
  
Helga gave a tiny half-smile. "Yes.. quite." Arnold mentally gave himself an extra point. He was on his way to making Helga Pataki smile. And, feeling like the adventersome guy that he was, even laugh.  
  
"Well last but not least we have Mr. Green's Butcher shop. His apprentice is Harold Berman. You'll meet Harold, he's in our grade."  
  
"Is he nice?" Helga gave a wry smile, Arnold took off a point for a negative smile.  
  
"Nice? I think not. Harold "Hulk" Berman is not what ANYONE except his two cronies, Stinky and Sid, would call 'nice'. Let's just say, my life would be a whole lot easier without him." Helga sighed. Arnold wonered if she knew she had spoken so much.  
  
"Harold, eh? I'll remember that."  
  
"Yeah. Well that was the last stop. I guess I should be going." Arnold stopped short at that. GOING!? Oh no! She couldn't do that! Why he stilll had to make her smile!  
  
Then he realized that he could do that another time. But when would they be alone next? Certainly not at school. He had to get her to smile before he went home, but she was leaving.  
  
Hmmmm.  
  
Ah ha!  
  
"Well then, may I walk you home?"  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
w-w-w-walk? Her? home? Helga nearly fainted.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Arnold looked at Helga worriedly. She was standing there beet red. Had she gotten a sunburn from the heat and all those clothes?  
  
"Helga? Are you ok?" he reached out and placed his hand on the side of her face, cool hand touching scalding skin.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Arnold was touching her! Helga's last vison was his worried face before she blacked out.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
a/n: :D I could'd resist! It was too tempting. I had to toss a lil humor in there. I wouldn't be me if I didn't. helga has a habit of fainting in my fanfics. wait what am I talking about, she has a habit of fainting period!!!  
  
A/N: that's it for chappie two. Stay tuned for Chapter Four 


	4. Dreaming Flower Euphoria

Thanks to: BJ, Steve, Sweet and Sour, wyldheart (I tried to read one of your fanfis but the huge paragraphs in the first chappie scared me away ;_; so scawwy), Silver Kitten, BrianaLFBH  
  
Chudney (if your reading this) update "Ain't That A Kick In The Head?"!!! Please! I beg of you!  
  
hey, if you wanna waste your time, read my other Hey Arnold! fanfics: Forgive me Love, and it's sequel: Simple Evidence. And soon my NEW songfic "Gone". And keep a look out for my other songfics, "Violet Drops" and "Some Kind of Unique"  
  
A/n: not much happens in the chapter. At least nothing pertaining to the plot. I couldn't help but have my Helga and the real Helga meet. If only in a dream. At least you think it's the real Helga.  
  
Key - "talking, duh!" 'dream speech' ***dream***  
  
REMEMBER this is an AU fic  
  
~ Jungle Fever ~  
  
~ Chapter Four: Dreaming Flower Euphoria ~  
  
*** Helga sat in front of a mirror staring back at a girl that looked like her sister Olga. Except more butch and with a scowl darker than Olga's smiles were light. 'Who are you,' Helga asked.  
  
'I'm you, doi! Crimeny! What kind of pansy did I turn into?"  
  
Helga sat back, cowering at the girls crass words. 'W- what do you mean your me?'  
  
'Look Ms. Meekly, I'll let you know everything in bit. Yeesh, have some patience!'  
  
'I'm sorry.' The girl in the mirror sneered and then spoke in a high falsetto tone.  
  
'I'm sorry. I'm sorry.' She turned brash again, 'Crimeny! Grow a backbone.' Helga knew better now than to say anything. Instead she just looked at the girl, noting her clothes didn't at all match her abrasive personality. Ignoring the girls bright pink tanktop and matching redsweat pants, Helga raised her eyes to study the girl's face.  
  
She saw the girl's sunken eyes peer at her from beneath a heavy eyebrow, like sapphire aflame. Ear length blonde hair made her skin look even fairer than it was, giving her a ghost like sheen. Sitting atop her head was the saddest looking pink bow Helga had ever seen. Helga's frown slipped into a smirk as she gazed at the quiet Helga.  
  
'That's better. Now I am you, or what you would have been if Arnold's parents had died in the plane crash on their last mission. I guess you could say I'm from an alternate universe.'  
  
'Arnold?' Helga was baffled. The guy she had just meant but a few days ago?  
  
'Yeah, you know, blonde guy with cucumber eyes and the kindest smile you'll ever see?'  
  
'Oh.'  
  
'Anyway, in my universe Arnold has lived in Hillwood since he was a baby. I met him when I was three. Now this is where me and you become two completely different people. On that day you remember walking in the rain?'  
  
Helga nodded, and the other girl smiled ruefully, 'Before I got within ten feet of the building all of a sudden the rain ceased. I was confused for a second until I saw a pair of rainboots peaking out from under a yellow raincoat. I looked up into the eyes of three year old Arnold. He smiled at me and spoke.'  
  
The other girl pulled the tattered bow from her hair, smiling fondly. 'He said that he liked my bow cause it matched my pants. I fell in love with him instantly.' The girl than scowled. 'But when the other kids saw me sighing after him they began to laugh. And we both know that's out biggest weakness. Finally I couldn't stand it anymore, and I became what I am now. The scowling, one-eyebrowed bully of PS 118.'  
  
'I just wanted to let you know,' she said as she retied her bow around her short croppy hair, 'so I would be sure you wouldn't make the same mistake I did. If you have a glimmer of a chance with him, follow it into the darkest tunnel if you have to, but never let it go. I made that mistake when I was three years old, and I've paid dearly for it these past eleven years.'  
  
'Eleven?' Helga questioned confused. 'But that would only make you fourteen.'  
  
The other girl smiled weakly. 'I told you that I paid dearly for it. Remember when I said that his parents died?' Helga nodded. 'Well he never knew for sure that they were dead. He left to go look for them right after his thirteenth birthday; I of course had already turned fourteen. I followed discreetly as I could.'  
  
'He arrived in a rainforest-like place and began to comb the place, looking high and low for an signs of his parents. Near the end of the journey we came across a small hut near a volcano. Apparently this was the place that he had been born. He spent the night in the hut and I walked in, wanting to watch him sleep. Suddenly he bolted awake and saw me. But my presence in the hut was not what had awoken him. The volcano was erupting.  
  
'I managed to get him far enough that he would not be harmed using the jeep that I had rented. When we reached safe ground he realized that he had lost his father's journal, the only thing he had left of his parents besides a tattered photo. Realizing how important it was to him I went back to retrieve it.  
  
'I left without warning so he didn't find out what happened to me for a week.'  
  
'What happened to you?' Helga asked softly.  
  
'The jeep got caught in a rut so I ran the rest of the way to the small building. Just as I picked up Arnold's father's diary the volcano erupted. I never left alive.'  
  
'I'm so sorry.'  
  
'Well yah?! What's it matter to you anyway? Your alive and kicking and have Arnold already falling for you. What do you know about what I feel?!'  
  
The other girl picked up something from her side of the mirror and threw it, shattering the reflective glass. Helga followed the shattered glass.  
  
Falling.  
  
Deeper.  
  
Lost.  
  
She closed her eyes as she fell into a deep ocean. Gasping she tried to surface for water. She swam higher and higher but the surface seemed to be getting further instead of closer.  
  
An angelfish swam in front of her, ceasing her journey upwards. 'Let me help you to breath' it spoke, tiny air bubbles billowing from it's gills. It turned into a merman. Helga couldn't see any of him as he was siloughted against the sun. He leaned forward and kissed her and Helga's lungs filled with oxygen. The merman began to drift away calling her name. 'Helga'***  
  
Helga woke upand saw Arnold leaning over her, a panicked look in his lime eyes. "Helga!?"  
  
"Helga! Oh thank god your allright! What happened?"  
  
Helga didnn't dare tell him she fainted because he touched her. Instead she said, "I haven't eaten at all today and I guess that ontop of this heat got to me. I'm sorry."  
  
He smiled, quite pleased that she was allright and he walked her back to her home. He made her promise to let him "check up on her" the next day.  
  
She brought up her fainting spell and looked at him. "Thank you for reviving me," she said. And with a soft smile she entered her house.  
  
Minutes later Arnold could be seen whistling and smiling with the biggest shit-eating-grin in the world as he walked back to the boarding house his grandparents resided in.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
A/n: sorry y'all had to sit thought that. It was written purely for visual pleasure.  
  
A/n: could I interest anyone into making fanart? Arnold looks stupid in any form other than the cartoon way when I draw him; and the cartoon drawing style is foreign to me. It don't matter though if no one want to, I can live with my crap.  
  
A/N: Hmmmm, maybe I should turn the mirror Helga's story into an AU fanfic? But it may be a little overdone, and y'all know I try and avoid that. Thoughts on this anyone?  
  
A/n: that's it for chappie four. Stay tuned for chapter five 


	5. Playing Vet

Thanks to: Stevetheloser, puppiescute, Silver Kitten, twister-power (I can't wait to see the fanart. Can I just make you a fanart instead of reviewing? I like getting reviews not giving them), wyldheart  
  
A/n: XD I was looking at my old reviews and I realized that basically the same people have been reviewing every time! I guess you guys are my "regulars". Ah, it's wonderful having fans  
  
Chudney (is you read this): . sorry bout that last message, I hadn't read the last chap in the story so nvm  
  
REMEMBER this is an AU fic  
  
~ Jungle Fever ~  
  
~ Chapter Five: Playing Vet ~  
  
_-^-_-^-_-^-_-^-_-^-_  
  
Helga woke up with a start as she heard banging shelves from downstairs. Moaning from being awoken so abrubtly and the sickiningly bright light emmitting from her curtains, she rolled over, pulling her blue comfroter up over her head.  
  
Once the soft downy blanket nestled intself on her she closed aching eyes and fell back asleep, too tired to notice the dull pain in her stomach and accounting the headache to lack of sleep.  
  
_-^-_-^-_-^-_-^-_-^-_  
  
Hours later, past noon, Helga was once again jarred awake, this time by a bell. The ringing echoed in her ears a few seconds before she realized it was the doorbell. Remembering who was supposed to visit her, she leaped out of the bed, blanket flung from her scattily-clad body.  
  
Helga stopped short, when suddenly the room swam before her eyes and she had a disticnt spinning feeling. Regaining her balance she pushed aside the event and stumbled out of her room, slipping a fluffy purple robe over her silk top.  
  
She descended the stairs, stumbling as the steps kept looking closer or further then they actually were. Finally, with the little grace and dignity that she could muster, she unbolted the door and opened it to Helga's favorite pair of eyes.  
  
_-^-_-^-_-^-_-^-_-^-_ (no specific POV)  
  
Arnold stared slightly up at Helga as she stood there, and tried to ignore that her loosly tied robe was becoming more loose, exposing pale, milky flesh pressed against floral silk. Instead, he looked at her face and frowned; she still had that flushed look on her skin, except now it practically resembled a sunburn, and her wonderfully blue eyes seemed out of focus and pale.  
  
"Helga? Are you feeling allright? You don't look well." Helga told him she was fine and let him into the house, adjusting her robes so that they hide her flesh; Arnold wasn't sure wether or not to be grateful for this.  
  
He stepped into her house and flashing gold caught the corner of his eye. He turned and was greeted with a wall full of trophies of all size. "Wow," he whispered.  
  
Helga noticed his gaze at the throphy case and frowned. Even when her sister was home she managed to show her up! "They're Olga's," she said flatly. Arnold turned to her confused.  
  
"Who's Olga?" Helga had to smile inwardly at herself. Imagine her father's astonishment that someone hadn't heard of the infamous Olga Pataki.  
  
"My sister."  
  
"I didn't know you had a sister!"  
  
She half-smiled, causing Arnold to grin. "That's cause I never told you."  
  
"Well of course."  
  
"Would you like something to drink?"  
  
"Do you have any orange soda?"  
  
"Of course! It's my favorite." Arnold chuckled.  
  
"Looks like that's another thing that we have in common."  
  
"Another? Since when did we have anything in the first place?" (a/n: I know she seems more Helga-like than she's supposed to but she's not in her normal state of mind. Well that and she feels comfortable with him)  
  
"Well we both live in the same neighborhood, go to the same school, like orange soda, and think your beautiful." Arnold looked like he felt stupid for saying that. And he did feel that way.  
  
"We do huh? I believe I must disagree with you on the last account." Arnold looked at her gaping.  
  
"You don't think your beautiful?!" Helga smiled as if finding the thought of thinking herself a beauty amusing.  
  
"I call it as I see it Arnold." He shook his head in disbelief. This gorgeous creature infront of him didn't see how pretty she was.  
  
"Well I for one think you may have a skewed perspective. You've never had me to open your eyes. Words alone can't express the beauty I see in you." Each word came out faster and bolder than the last, him getting caught up in the 'moment'.  
  
He drew himself closer to her and leaned in, his nose centimeters from hers. "So very beautiful," he murmered, gazing into her glazed eyes. He reached a hand out to stroke her cheeck and his hand made contact with her skin. Yiping, he pulled it away.  
  
"Helga! Your burning up!!!" She looked at him confused before her feet crumpled out from under her. "Helga!" he rushed to her side. "Helga! Are you all right?!"  
  
"I - I don't know. All of a sudden I just couldn't hold myself up."  
  
"Do you think you can now?" He watched as she raised one very shaky hand about three feet before she let it drop to the ground.  
  
"I can barely lift one arm!" She was starting to sound a little panicked.  
  
"Helga, calm down." He reached around her scalding body and scooped her up in his arms. Astonished at how light she felt he looked at her. "Are you eating enough?"  
  
She smiled woozily. "Yes Arnold, don't worry, I'm not starving myself. I just have high metabolism." Arnold nodded and aranged her arms so that she clung loosily around his neck.  
  
"Now, where's your room?" Helga, blushing at the implications in that question, pointed up the stairs and directed him to her room. He carried her up the stairs and somehow opened her door. (a/n: I hope yur not expecting a room description! Just think it looks like it does on tv cept with a green and blue theme instead of pink) He set her on the bed gently and glanced around the room before he spotted the blue blanket nestled in the corner of her room. He picked it up and tucked her into it.  
  
"Do you have a thermometer? Or atleast some soup?"  
  
"Thermometer's in the drawer right of the fridge and soup in in the cuboard left of the oven. A can opener's in the drawer below it." He smiled in thanks and descended down the stairs. After navigating himself to her kitchen he pulled out the thermometer and set it on the table for when he went back up.  
  
He opened the cuboard and saw only one can of tomato soup. He walked to the foot of the stairs and shouted up to Helga, "Do you like tomato soup?" A raspy yes trailed down the stairs and he smiled to himself. He knew how to make wonderful tomato soup.  
  
A few minutes later he had made the soup and found a tray to put it on. He carefully went back up the stairs and went back in Helga's room. She was staring mindlessly into space when he came in, but when she saw the door move out of the corner of her eye she turned to him and smiled.  
  
Quietly, as if it hurt to speak louder, she asked, "Whadja bring me?" He sat her up and then set the tv tray ontp of her covers. Sitting on the tray was a bowl of soup, a spoon, two advil, a glass of orange soda, and the thermometer.  
  
"Ooo, I got lot's of stuff. I feel spoiled," she kidded before she broke into a choughing fit. He placed his hand on her back and rubbed soothing cirlces until she was down.  
  
"Better now?" Helga smiled at how gentle he was being with her and then looked at the soup curiosly.  
  
"Is that basil floating on the soup?"  
  
"Yes it is, along with some dill and celery salt. It's good, try it." He spooned up some of the soup, blowing on it so it wouldn't scald her tongue, and brought it to her lips. "Here."  
  
She parted her lips and let him slid the spoon into her mouth. Arnold was cherry red at the erotic image of her with her lips parted and face flushed, but pushed it aside. She was sick for goodness sake!  
  
A bowl of soup, an orange soda, two advil, and ten minutes later, Helga could be found kneeling over the toilet in her bathroom, giving back all that she had ingested minutes before.  
  
Arnold sat next to her calmly holding her hair back as she finished. She sat back, whimpering. He tore some toilet paper of it's roll and genlty wiped off her mouth.  
  
"All done?" he asked. A slight tilt of the head indicated a yes. "Want to brush your teeth now?" Another nodd and he was helping her stand and pulling out a pink toothbrush.  
  
After brushing her teeth, Arnold helped her walk back to her bed. She collapsed onto the soft sheets and turned to Arnold curiosly.  
  
A soft raspy voice, made the hairs on the back of Arnold's neck stand up. After the effect of her voice wore off the words sunk in. "Why are you helping me?"  
  
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a/n: now I could wrap this up neatly in the next chapter, and MAYBE (- key word) do a sequel about like school life now that they were together. Or I could drag this on for a few more chapters and have no possiblilty of a sequel. Reviewers choice.  
  
a/n: O_o;; I just had to share the tomato soup recipe. My dad makes it whenever we have grilled cheese sandwich's and it's to die for! (I had him write me up the recipe and it was so funny I had to put it down word for word)  
  
_-^-_-^-_  
  
1 can tomato soup:  
  
Ye verily doth thee take thine soup can and heartily doth thou open thine can... yea, okay.  
  
Open the can (you probably figured that out), empty into soup-pot (small, deep thingy), turn on the heat (very important) then turn down to low (a/n: I think I should note we have a gas stove).  
  
Add 1 can-full of milk (water will work if no milk available) SLOWLY, while stirring, to soup. When all milk is added:  
  
Add a pich (just pinch your fingers in it) of BASIL, add about the same amount (a quarter-sized pile in your hand) of DILL, add about the same amount of CELERY SALT.  
  
Stir here and there (and everywhere!) for about another five minutes.  
  
Pour into bowl.  
  
Eat (also very important).  
  
_-^-_-^-_  
  
A/N: that's it for chappie Five. Stay tuned for Chapter Six 


	6. Peacock Strut

Thanks to: BrianaLFBH (oh yeah, you know those hormones are'uh rampagin! Helga's sickness will be explained in the chapter. Nothing major. Unless I decide to make it major in the sequel :D], glory230 (I think that falls under the world's shortest review!], Chudney (thanks for the cheese idea. I never thought of that!], Puppiescute (bwhahaha! Evil aren't I? Well I'm in training anyway], Miss California USA (electric ones take too long _ thank monkeys for gas :p], BJ (well of course Arnold's hormones are throwing a party! He's one of those dreaded evil teenagers. And so am I! Ahahaha!], stevetheloser (your reviews were great ;) thanks so much *steals the remote from him* Ha!], twister-power (well I have the pic drawn now I have to scan it in, and do all this funky stuff to get it from my dad's Mac to my step-mom's PC @_@ I'm still awaitin' that fanart!]  
  
Here it is. After five glorious chapters we've finally stumbled upon the ending. Knowing the stories conclusion I tried to make this the best chap of them all. But then I remembered I'm a crappy author so all hell broke loose. Enjoy if you can! ^_^ (and I apologize, I wasn't in my Hey Arnold set of mind when I wrote this so they may seem more OOC than usual)  
  
Also, a special thanks to the thesaurus, without which I wouldn't have gotten very far.  
  
PLEASE check out my website if you haven't already  
  
REMEMBER this is an AU fic  
  
~ Jungle Fever ~  
  
~ Chapter Six: Peacock Strut (and no there is no point to this title) ~  
  
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"Why am I helping you?" Arnold asked hurriedly, his face tinted strawberry red. "What do you mean? I have to have a reason to want to help you?!"  
  
"Arnold stop avoiding the subject."  
  
"I am not avoiding the subject."  
  
Helga gave an exasperated sigh. "Your avoiding the subject by SAYING that your avoiding the subject!"  
  
"So?"  
  
"Ack! Fine forget I asked!" Arnold said nothing, just watched Helga as she sat their pouting, and thought of how pretty she looked with her face flushed and he tempting lip jutted out in a small frown, blue eyes crackiling with white lightning. With an inner cackle and evil smile he spoke.  
  
"You know your pretty cute when your angry," he said suggestivly, raising an eyebrow, his green eyes twinkiling in mirth.  
  
"WHAT!?" Her face was giving the color of an apple a run for it's money.  
  
"In fact, your so cute I think I can feel a nosebleed coming on." (a/n: ok anime refrence so sue me)  
  
"Arnold I would apperciate it if you would stop teasing me." Arnold sat down on the edge of her bed near her arm and looked into her cobalt eyes.  
  
"Very well, what would you like me to do." Helga felt herself melting under his olive gaze and stubbornly gazed back.  
  
"Tell me why your helping me."  
  
"Are you so desperate to know?"  
  
"Yes. Yes I am."  
  
"Well truthfully, I find you a very attractive and gentle person and would really like to get to know you better. And you dying of the flu would really not help my plans at all." Arnold couldn't tell which of them was blushing harder.  
  
Helga let her blueberry eyes shift away from his and fall to the sheets scattered about her bed hazardously. Shly she asked with her voice at a raspy whisper, "Do you really find me that attractive?"  
  
A hand reached out and lifted her chin so that their eyes were level again. She looked past the grass green eyes and saw something akin to fire nestled behind them.  
  
"Yes, and if you don't quit using that voice I may be forced to occupy your mouth with something else so that it can't seduct me anymore." Inwarldy Helga stuttered at him calling her seductive.  
  
With a deep chuckle Helga purposly made her voice soft, whispery and a tad seductive, "What if I want you to occupy my mouth?"  
  
Stunned like a tranquilized bear, Arnold's mouth fell from it's hinges to dangle as he stared at her dazed. He finally closed his mouth after it lay there flopping for a bit, and then spoke in a strained voice. "Are you saying what I think your saying?"  
  
She gazed into his eyes and saw all the love and passion in them and smiled softly. "Yes. Kiss me? Please?"  
  
Happy to oblige Arnold leaned down and kissed her softy on the lips. A chaste kiss but a loving one none the less. Helga swooned inwardly as Arnold orange tasting lips grated against hers in a ritual that dated back milleniums. With the soft sound of lips parting they leaned apart from one another again. Smiling at each other they started to giggle and then laugh out of pure joy that love at last had been found.  
  
THE END  
  
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A/N: There you have it. Six chapters of my Hey Arnold! manipulating. Keep your eyes peeled for the sequel (which will be a while cause school starts in like a month! Eep O_O). And I'll thank everyone who reviews in this chapter at the begining on the sequel. 


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